The Gilded Hunger Chest
This chest is an ancient ward disguised as treasure, meant to tempt the greedy and punish the hasty. It waits in silence until touched, opened, or ignored too long. Then the curse blooms like furnace breath, branding the bold with hunger, smoke, and infernal attention.
The Gilded Hunger Chest
Defenses
Detection
“A dark hardwood chest rests in plain sight atop a mound of spilled coins and blackened gilt debris, half veiled by a drape of rotting velvet. Tarnished gold filigree crawls across its lid like old prayer script, and a small gold-inlaid keyhole sits beneath the front lip, sealed by a sticky residue that smells faintly of sulfur and old incense. In the right light, the chest seems to breathe heat through its seams.”
Standard Engagement
Touching the keyhole, opening the lid, or moving the chest more than 5 feet without first disabling the ward.
While the chest remains unsealed, infernal heat seeps from the keyhole and the coins beneath it rattle softly. At the end of each round, the hazard sheds dim light in a 5-foot radius and any creature that has touched the chest since the last turn must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or take 1d6 fire damage from lingering ember-scratches. If the chest has been opened, the routine escalates until the lid is shut or the hazard is disabled.
The ward resets at dusk, or immediately after 1 minute if the chest remains unopened and unsealed. If the lid is opened and then closed, the curse re-forms after 10 minutes unless suppressed by magic or cleansing.
Each creature that opens the chest or starts its turn within 10 feet of it while the lid is unsealed must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, the creature takes 2d6 fire damage and 1d6 necrotic damage as black, greasy flame bursts from the seams. On a success, it takes half damage.
The first creature that fails the saving throw is also branded by a faint ember sigil until the end of its next long rest. While branded, the creature has disadvantage on Charisma checks made to resist fiends, infernal spirits, or magical coercion from a fiend, and fiends can sense the branded creature's location within 30 feet through stone and sand.
The chest is deceptively placed in plain sight. Creatures searching the room might assume it is ordinary treasure unless they inspect the residue, heat, or scorch marks. If a creature first touches the keyhole or lid without first identifying the ward, it has disadvantage on the saving throw against the Fiendish Backlash effect.
While a creature is branded by the chest, it cannot benefit from being hidden from fiends that are aware of the chest's curse, unless it is fully concealed behind total cover or magical darkness.
Turn The Gilded Hunger Chest into a sheet
A high-res, share-ready sheet you can post or print.